Joint Stock Company Raiffeisenbank agreed to acquire 27.8% stake in Strabag SE from Oleg Deripaska's International joint-stock company "Rasperia Trading Limited" for approximately ?1.5 billion.
Closing of the acquisition is subject to various conditions precedent including satisfactory completion of the sanctions compliance due diligence by RBI, regulatory approvals, and merger clearance. In pursuing this transaction, RBI has diligently abided by and will continue to diligently abide by all sanction requirements. The approval of the dividend in kind by the competent Russian authorities is also a condition precedent for the acquisition of the shares in STRABAG SE by AO Raiffeisenbank. The acquisition of the shares in STRABAG SE and distribution of the dividend in kind, subject to regulatory approvals and satisfaction of other conditions precedent, are expected to close in the first quarter of 2024. The bank has already submitted all the necessary filings, particularly those with the European Commission and the Central Bank of Russia. The transaction is also subject to these verifications, Rasperia?s new ownership structure should provide RBI comfort that no sanctioned individuals or entities will benefit directly or indirectly from RBI?s announced acquisition of the STRABAG SE shares, nor from any related payments for these shares. As of April 3, 2024, the transaction has drawn scrutiny from US government officials due to the involvement of a sanctioned individual and the Austrian bank stressed that the recent transfer of Deripaska's Strabagstake to unsanctioned local firm Iliadis JSC is not related to its purchase and requires "extensive compliance verifications". Pending these checks, the revised ownership arrangement of Rasperia should reassure RBI that neither sanctioned individuals nor entities will derive any direct or indirect benefits from RBI's Strabagdeal, according to the statement. It still expects to complete the purchase in the first quarter of 2024.